Recovery of infectious WSL-adapted CD2v-deleted ASFV Kenya and
disinfection treatments (Experiment 4)
To evaluate the improved cell culture technique using WSL cells (see
Figure 5), beach sand or yard soil were inoculated with blood spiked
with WSL-adapted CD2v-deleted ASFV Kenya and stored at room temperature
for three weeks. Furthermore, the different matrices were treated with
two different disinfectants for one or three hours. A blood-only control
and sterile sand mixed with infectious ASFV-blood were used as process
controls under the same conditions.
Virus titers in the blood-only and sterile sand controls remained
constant over the entire observation period, no decrease in virus titer
was observed (Figure 6). Thus, untreated blood or sterile sand were
infectious for the entire test interval of 3 weeks. Inoculated beach
sand and yard soil however, displayed a steady decline in virus titer
over time (during the first week). After one week a high variability
between the biological replicates was observed in the beach sand.
Moreover, in both soil types, no infectious virus could be detected
after two weeks storage at room temperature.
Regardless of the matrix/soil type (sterile sand, beach sand, yard
soil), no infectious virus could be recovered after a one-hour
disinfectant treatment (calcium hydroxide or citric acid) at either
concentration (Figure 5). ASFV in pure blood was also fully inactivated
after treatment with either disinfectant for one hour at room
temperature. In all tested matrices, ASFV genome copy numbers were
relatively constant over time. In disinfectant-treated samples, slightly
fewer genome copies were detected (Figure 6).